What’s in a dress anyway?
Muslim women’s dress is the topic that receives limitless attention both in the West and in Muslim communities. We have seen, for example, the endless attention paid to the veiling of women in Afghanistan. This veiling was used as an excuse for the bombings since we were going to “liberate” Muslim women from the Taliban. No emphasis, though, has been paid to the forced veiling of women in Saudi Arabia, a key ally of the US. In Muslim communities, as well, emphasis on veiling is on the rise and women feel compelled to veil in order to be treated as respectable and pious women. Examples such as the forced veiling of women by the Taliban and the Saudi regime, and the throwing of acid on the faces of Kashmiri women who don’t cover are extreme examples of this mentality.
The question of women’s dress is an essential component of every Islamist movement. These movements obsess over the veiling of women, sometimes to the extent that the “dress code” is enforced using violent means. Regardless of the question of veiling, coercion in any matter related to faith is an unislamic concept (Quran 2:256, 10:99-100, 88:22).
One argument in favor of veiling is the belief that women will be protected from sexual harassment if they adopt the dress code dictated by Islamists. However, social experience reveals that no form of dress can protect women from men who are sexually violent. The underlying assumption behind these arguments for veiling is the perception that women are responsible for the actions of men and for limiting men’s “uncontrollable lustfulness” and “sexual impulses.” On the contrary, in the Quran, men first are ordered to lower their gaze and guard their modesty. But Muslim communities have disregarded this injuction upon men and have instead concentrated on forcing a dress code on women as a form of control.
In order to address the issue of women’s dress in Islam, the following principles should be laid down. First: Forms of dress are neither liberating nor oppressive. The difference is created when women’s dress is defined by men and enforced upon them, leaving them with no choice but to comply. Second: No form of dress can reflect the piety and morality of an individual. The predominant Islamist notion that women who wear a veil are more pious and moral is rejected in the Quranic message which states: “O children of Adam, we have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness. These are some of God's signs, that they may take heed" (Quran 7:26).
The Quran calls for modesty on behalf of both men and women, leaving the injunction very vague so as to allow for dress codes to follow cultural understandings of modesty. It is important that women have a dominant role in deciding both the Quranic concept of modesty (with regards to women) and the manifestation of this modesty in cultural dress. The veil, in itself, can be liberating if women make a free choice to wear it, independent of cultural pressure and the dictates of male authority figures. Nilufer Gole, in her book The Forbidden Modern, writes about the reveiling of University students in Turkey. She argues that this resurgence is essentially different from the traditional forms of veiling because the women are not passive submitters to cultural pressures. She writes: “the new public visibility of Muslim [veiled] women, who are outspoken, militant, and educated, brings about a shift in the semiotics of veiling, which has long evoked the traditional, subservient domestic roles of Muslim women.”
The works of Islamic feminists, such as Amina Wadud, are also very important with regards to the topic at hand. In her book Qur’an and Woman, Amina Wadud argues that “the principle of modesty [in the Quran] is important – not the veiling and seclusion which were manifestations peculiar to that context.” Other Islamic feminists such as Fatima Mernissi, Riffat Hassan, Azizah al-Hibri, Maysam al-Faruqi, and Ziba Mir-Hosseini also write about the veil. Without actually taking a strong theological stance against veiling, all these women argue that the most important aspect in veiling is the “freedom of choice.” In reference to this choice, Mai Yamani, an Islamic feminist of Saudi origin, writes in her book Feminism and Islam: “The relevant question for Muslim feminists today is the element of choice attached to the garment, and whether it is a woman’s right to choose whether to veil or not.”
Position Statement:
The PMN calls for the end of all forms of violence against women motivated by their refusal to conform to the authoritarian demands of men with regards to a dress code. We further support and encourage the right of women to define for themselves the Quranic concept of modesty and their right to freedom of choice.